Wrapped sole shoe



lNOV- 28, 1967 J. GLASSMAN ETAL- WRAPPED SOLE SHOE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 4, 1962 /77fa n me y s,

United States Patent Office 3,354,437 Patented Nov. 28, i967 3,354,487WRAPPED SOLE SHOE Joel Glassman, Gilbert F. Jonas, and Andrew L. Bass,Jr.,

Nashville, and Stephen H. Pate, Hendersonville, Tenn.,

assignors to Geneseo, Inc., Nashville, Tenn., a corporation of TennesseeFiled Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 221,014 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) Thisdisclosure is addressed to the manufacture of shoes, and is particularlydirected to a shoe wherein the sole is wrapped up over the lower part ofthe upper.

Such a shoe has a number of attractive features, among which might bementioned its interesting design, its resistance to soil, and the factthat the sole can be made of thin material. thereby reducing the weightand increasing` the flexibility Whilestill having a satisfactoryappearance. On the other hand, this type of shoe has Ibeen difficult tomanufacture because of the careful handwork required in shaping the soleand properly securing it to the upper. A leather or rubber-basedcomposition sole must be hand shaped and cemented at its margin to thelower part of the upper supported on the last and in a manner such thatthe margin of the sole is completely anchored without marring theadjacent surface of the upper exposed above the top line of the sole.When the upper is formed of leather or other material which is dicult tocement, the surface portion of the upper which is to be covered by thesole must be roughened or otherwisespecially prepared to receive theadhesive. This task islcomplicated by the necessity of matching the edgeof the ,sole with the edge of the roughened or adhesive coated area ofthe upper. If this is done carelessly, there will be an unsightly showof adhesive or roughened area on the upper above the sole, or the topmargin of the sole will not be fully anchored to the upper.

Accordingly, an object of this disclosure is to provide a simpler, moreeconomical process of a construction for shoes of this character wherethe sole extends upwardly over a lower portion of the upper. It isthought the process disclosed will permit a substantial reduction in thecost of such shoes and thereby open a much wider market therefor.

Briey, the process disclosed herein contemplates that an overlay stripof readily cemented material will be sewn or otherwise attached to theupper along a line corresponding to the desired top line of the solewhile leaving a portion of the overlay projecting upwardly free of theupper beyond the line of attachment. The sole is cemented to thisoverlay with the adhesive coated area thereof reaching above theaforesaid line of sewing but terminated short of the upper edge of theoverlay. The overlay and sole are then trimmed simultaneously along oradjacent the aforesaid line of attachment while using the line ofattachment as a guide for a trimming tool, thereby assuring that theedge of the sole is properly secured and that, the adjacent portion ofthe upper above the trimmed edge of the sole is unmarred. The processfurther contemplates that the upper may be sewn off a last to a socklining along a seam spaced below the aforesaid line of attachmentbetween the overlay and upper. Also, the sole may be pre-molded from asheet of moldable synthetic polymer using a vacuum molding technique,and the overlay may be formed of a similar material to simplify theoperation of securing the sole to the overlay. A shank. and cushioningor other protective material may be sandwiched between vthe sock liningand sole to provide any desired degree of protection for the foot. Aheel may be attached to the sole before or after the sole is laid.

Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and willbe mentioned in the following detailed description. The drawings are asfollows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe made in accordance with thisdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the shoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the top of an upper with an overlaysecured to its lower margin;

FIG. 4 is a reversed perspective view partly in section illustrating theupper, the overlay and a sock lining sewn to the upper and overlay;

FIG. 5 is a detail view similar to FIG. 4 showing how the sock liningmay be secured to the upper with their edges abutting;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing another way of attaching thesock lining;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view partly in section, showing amolded sole preparatory to assembly with the upper; and

FIG. 8 is a view similarv to FIG. 7 with the sole laid and partlytrimmed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a shoe havingan upper 1, an outsole 3 and a heel 5. The outsole is shaped with itsmargin 7 extending upwardly over or wrapped against the lower portion 9of the upper. The height of the sole wrap 7 may be varied, dependingupon the design effect desired, but is substantially greater than thethickness of the sole. A wrap measuring about three-eighths of an inchfrom the bottom surface of the sole is Suggested.A

The outsole 3 is preferably formed from relatively thin sheet material,a polyvinyl sheet about one-sixteenth of an inch or less beingsuggested. Other polymers may be used alon'e or in combination toachieve the desired ilexibility, although it is desirable to avoid acombination of plastic and plasticizers, the flexibility of which isunduly sensitive to temperature changes. It may -be noted that a thinoutsole is permissible, since many synthetic polymers have excellentwearing qualities, and the wrapped sole margin overcomes the problem ofappearance, that would othewise arise with the use of a thin sole.

Such a shoe might be made by lasting the upper to an inner sole and bythen lasting an outer sole over the inner sole land upper, the 4marginof the outer sole being hand wrapped over and cemented directly to thebottom margin of the upper. This approach involves difficulties,however. lf the outer sole and upper are formed of different materials(such as leather and plastic), it is frequently diicult to cement theplastic to the leather without first roughening the surface of theleather. The outsole must be hand shaped over the last and made to holdthe desired shape, whereupon the outsole is removed for trimming to thedesired top line. After trimming, the outsole is placed back over thelast and the upper is marked 'with the top line of the sole in order todetermine the area of the upper which is to be prepared for and coatedwith adhesive; The outsole is then removed and the area of the upperbelow the mark is roughened and coated with adhesive, whereupon theoutsole may nally be laid. Obviously, this procedure involvesconsiderable handwork requiring a high degree of care in order to avoidmisalignment between the outsole and upper.

The process herein disclosed avoids these problems by the convenientexpedient of sewing or otherwise attaching an oversize overlay 11 to theupper along a line 13 corresponding to the desired top line of theoutsole, as shown in FIG. 3. The overlay may then be coated withadhesive, thecoated area extending above the line 13 of attachment butterminating short of the top edge 15 of rthe overlay. An outsole is thenlaid with its margin being wrapped upwardly over the overlay to extendbeyond the line 13. The wrapped margin of the outsole becomes glued tothe overlay and then both outsole and overlay are trimmed immediatelyabove line 13 (FIG. 8) to leave a neat trim appearance without adhesiveshowing on the upper or a loose edge at, the top line of the outsole.

A particularly convenient method of manufacture involves securing theupper 1, with attached overlay 11, to a sock lining 17, and then layingthe sole. The upper and sock lining are out or marked to pattern forshape and size, so that they may be aligned at their edges and t-hensewn to produce the desired shaping in the manner of making slip-lastedshoes. The edges of the upper and sock lining may be abutted togetherand secured with a zigzag stitch 19, as shown in FIG` 5, or the edgesmay be lapped and secured with a straight stitch 21, as shown in FIG. 6Alternatively, the open upper without an attached sock lining might bestretched over a last and held by thin lingers extending between the,upper and overlay against the line 13 of stitching while the sole islaid. The sock lining method is recommended, however, since itsimplifies the shaping operation and facilitates the addition of insolecushionin-g and stiffening components.

Referring to FIG. 7, the insole with attached sock lining is slippedover a last and a cushion 23 of sponge material, or the 1ike is glued tothe fore portion of the sock lining. A stiiener 25 of berboard, or thelike, is cemented over the shank and rear portion of the sock lining.The exposed portions of the cushion 23, stiifener 25,ar1d overlay 11 arethen coated with adhesive and the outsole 7 is laid. As mentionedearlier, the adhesive on the overlay should extend down at least to itsline 13 of attachment to the upper, so that the sole' will be properlysecured up to this line.

The sole may be an unformed piece of sole material, which is shaped bywrapping it over the parts on the last, or more preferably, the sole maybe preshaped, as by vacuum-forming plastic sheet material over a. solepattern, as disclosed in a copending application. In either event, themargin of the sole should extend beyond the line 13 of attachment-between overlay and upper., When a plastic outsole is utilized, it issuggested that adhesive problems may be simplied by forming the overlayof a plastic or other material, which readily takes adhesive compatiblewith the outsole materia-l. The overlayl is completely concealed,` henceits appearance is not a matter of concern.

After laying the outsole, its margin (and the free portion of theoverlay) is trimmed away to produceY a neat appearance. This is veryconveniently accomplished4 by running a trimming tool between the upperand overlay against the line, of stitching 13, i.e-., by using the line.13 of stitching as a guide for trimming the, outsole and overlay. Sineethe. sole is trimmed after attachment, there is no critical problem ofalignment with` the upper, and the outsole itself need not be precut orbe made to,y precise measurements at its margin.

After the margin` is trimmed, the, last is removed, a heel is; attachedwith heel nails being covered by a c011- ventional heel pad.l The, heel.may be attached to. they outsolezbefore it is cemented to the upper,however.

There are a number of other variations inthe methods and constructionsdescribed. For example, the. overlay might be precoated on onesurfacewith a heat', or solvent, activated cement or perhaps with acontact cement before the overlay is even secured to the upper.Moreover, a last is not necessary for laying the sole, since the bottommargin of the upper with attached overlay' might be pressed manuallyagainstithe. sole, such being particularly feasible with contactcements. It may also be noted; that the overlay needv not be sewn to theupper, but can be cemented to the upper in such a way as to. leave afree margin and a line of attachment above the bottom edge of the upper(or within the outsole), the line of attachment being defined by the topof the cement area and bottom of the free area of the overlay. Indeed,the overlay might be merely a predetermined area of adhesive on theupper, which adhesive is activated in laying the sole. In such event,the sole marginwould initially project beyond the adhesive area and betrimmed back to the top ofthe adhesive area, the adhesive area being thecontrol for trimming.

It should further be understood that this disclosure permits a widevariety of design or construction effects, as by varying the heighty ofthe sole wrap, by partial soles, or by procedures involving assembly ofsole and upper in reversed condition followed by turning. Still othervariations and modifications will suggest themselves, without departingfrom the spirit of this disclosure or the. scope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. In the process of making a shoe having a sole whose margin is wrappedover the lower margin of the upper, the improvement that comprisesattaching an overlay to the lower margin of the upper along a linecorresponding to the desired top line of the sole while leaving a,portion of the overlay projecting free. of the upper above said line ofattachment, cementing the margin of the sole to said overlay over anarea that extends above the aforesaid line of attachment to the upperbut which terminates short of, the free margin of the. overlay, andthereafter simultaneously trimming the overlay and sole along alineadjacent the aforesaid line of attachment between overlay and upper,thereby to produce a shoe wherein the edge ofthe sole s fully secured tothe upper through the connection of the sole to the overlay and theconnection of the overlay to the upper along substantially coextensivelines- 2. In the process of making a shoe having a sole whose marginwraps upwardly over the lower margin of the upper, the improvement thatcomprises sewing an overlay strip of readily cemented material to thelower mal:- gin of the upper along aline corresponding tothe desired topline of the sole while leaving a marginal portion of the. overlay stripprojecting upwardly free of the upper beyond said line of sewing,applying adhesive to the overlay strip to cover an area reaching abovesaid line of sewingr lbut terminating short of the. upper edge of theoverlay strip, cementing the sole to the overlay strip so that themargin of the sole reaches, above the line` of sewing, and thereaftersimultaneously trimming the overlay strip andv sole along a lineimmediately above said line of sewing while using the line of sewing asa guide in trimming.

3. The process set forth in claim 2, wherein the upper is formed ofleather, the sole. is formed ofv plastic, and the overlay strip isformed of plastic, thereby tohave a plas.- ticy to plastic cementconnection between. overlay and sole.

References Cited UNITED-Y STATESv PATENTS 15,753,872 4/1930 Steed 36-142,481,389 91/1-949? Campagna 36-14 2,730,736` 1/1956 Perugia l2-1i42,770,824 11/ 1956 Murphyl 12--1i4 2,910,787 l'l'/ 1959 Mackenzie et al.36-1'95 2,946,140 7/ 1960 Lockridge- 36-19.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 918,355. 9,/1954 Germany;

IORDANv FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.Y

R. C. MADER, Examiner.

H.` H. HUNTER, F. I. COHENAssszant'Exniners.

1. IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING A SHOE HAVING A SOLE WHOSE MARGIN IS WRAPPED OVER THE LOWER MARGIN OF THE UPPER, THE IMPROVEMENT THAT COMPRISES ATTACHING AN OVERLAY TO THE LOWER MARGIN OF THE UPPER ALONG A LINE CORRESPONDING TO THE DESIRED TOP LINE OF THE SOLE WHILE LEAVING A PORTION OF THE OVERLAY PROJECTING FREE OF THE UPPER ABOVE SAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT, CEMENTING THE MARGIN OF THE SOLE TO SAID OVERLAY OVER AN AREA THAT EXTENDS ABOVE THE AFORESAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT TO THE UPPER BUT WHICH TERMINATES SHORT OF THE FREE MARGIN OF THE OVERLAY, AND THEREAFTER SIMULTANEOUSLY TRIMMING THE OVERLAY AND SOLE ALONG A LINE ADJACENT THE AFORRESAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT BETWEEN OVERLAY AND UPPER, THEREBY TO PRODUCE A SHOE WHEREIN THE EDGE OF THE SOLE IS FULLY SECURED TO THE UPPER THROUGH THE CONNECTION OF THE SOLE TO THE OVERLAY AND THE CONNECTION OF THE OVERLAY TO THE UPPER ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE LINES. 